Rare diseases · Sign or symptom
Gait disturbance
Abnormal gait
HP:0001288
What it means
The term gait disturbance can refer to any disruption of the ability to walk.
Gait disturbances can be caused by neurological or muscular diseases but also fractures or other sources of pain that is triggered upon walking.
Rare diseases that can present with this393
Always100%
2Very common80–99%
78- 1p36deletion syndrome
- 9q21.13microdeletion syndrome
- ABeta amyloidosis, Iowa type
- Adult polyglucosan body disease
- Ataxia-oculomotor apraxia type 1
- Ataxia-pancytopenia syndrome
- Ataxia-telangiectasia
- Atypical Rett syndrome
- Autosomal dominant Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 2E
- Autosomal dominant spastic paraplegia type 12
- Autosomal dominant spastic paraplegia type 6
- Autosomal dominant spastic paraplegia type 8
- Autosomal recessive ataxia, Beauce type
- Autosomal recessive cerebellar ataxia-psychomotor delay syndrome
- Autosomal recessive spastic paraplegia type 21
- Autosomal recessive spastic paraplegia type 35
- Autosomal recessive spastic paraplegia type 43
- Autosomal recessive spastic paraplegia type 46
- Autosomal recessive spastic paraplegia type 78
- Becker muscular dystrophy
- Benign hereditary chorea
- Brain dopamine-serotonin vesicular transport disease
- Cerebellar ataxia-ectodermal dysplasia syndrome
- Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1E
- Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 4B2
- Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 4C
- Chondroectodermal dysplasia with night blindness
- Classic pantothenate kinase-associated neurodegeneration
- COASY protein-associated neurodegeneration
- Congenital muscular dystrophy, Fukuyama type
- Congenital muscular dystrophy-infantile cataract-hypogonadism syndrome
- Danon disease
- Distal myotilinopathy
- DYRK1A-related intellectual disability syndrome
- DYRK1A-related intellectual disability syndrome due to 21q22.13q22.2 microdeletion
- Dysequilibrium syndrome
- Dystonia-aphonia syndrome
- Early-onset generalized limb-onset dystonia
- Ectodermal dysplasia-intellectual disability-central nervous system malformation syndrome
- FLNC-related handgrip and calf weakness-distal myopathy
- Foix-Chavany-Marie syndrome
- FOXG1 syndrome
- Fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome
- Free sialic acid storage disease
- Giant axonal neuropathy
- Homocystinuria due to methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase deficiency
- Ichthyosis-hepatosplenomegaly-cerebellar degeneration syndrome
- Intellectual disability-cataracts-calcified pinnae-myopathy syndrome
- Isolated fibular hemimelia
- Kennedy disease
- Kuskokwim syndrome
- L1 syndrome
- Leri pleonosteosis
- Manganese poisoning
- MASA syndrome
- Metaphyseal chondrodysplasia, Spahr type
- Methylmalonic acidemia with homocystinuria, type cblD
- Mitochondrial DNA-related cardiomyopathy and hearing loss
- Mucolipidosis type IV
- Mucopolysaccharidosis type 4
- Multicentric carpo-tarsal osteolysis with or without nephropathy
- Multiple sclerosis-ichthyosis-factor VIII deficiency syndrome
- Muscle-eye-brain disease
- Muscular pseudohypertrophy-hypothyroidism syndrome
- Mutilating hereditary sensory neuropathy with spastic paraplegia
- Niemann-Pick disease type C
- Non-distal deletion 10q syndrome
- Osteogenesis imperfecta
- Palmoplantar keratoderma-spastic paralysis syndrome
- Pantothenate kinase-associated neurodegeneration
- Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease
- Pelvic dysplasia-arthrogryposis of lower limbs syndrome
- Peroxisomal acyl-CoA oxidase deficiency
- Polyneuropathy-intellectual disability-acromicria-premature menopause syndrome
- POMT1-related limb-girdle muscular dystrophy R11
- Primary progressive freezing gait
- Progressive spondyloepimetaphyseal dysplasia-short stature-short fourth metatarsals-intellectual disability syndrome
- Pyruvate dehydrogenase E2 deficiency
The range is how often this sign appears among people diagnosed with each disease — it is not a probability of having any of them. Many of these signs also occur in common, non-rare conditions. A sign on this page is a conversation to have with a clinician, not a conclusion.
Part of the broader category
Also called: Abnormal walk · Difficulty in walking · Gait abnormalities · Gait difficulties · Gait disturbances · Impaired gait · Walking disability
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Start free with EleplanThis page uses the Human Phenotype Ontology (2026-06-23) — Human Phenotype Ontology Consortium, hpo.jax.org. Disease associations from Orphanet (INSERM), CC BY 4.0. Content is educational and is not medical advice.